


Wavering Fate

by Hey_Red101



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, The Owl House (Cartoon)
Genre: Enemies to Lovers, F/F, I also really like lightsabers, I got this stuck in my head and it wouldn't leave until I wrote it, Jedi Eda, Jedi Luz, Lumity, Sith Edric, Sith Emira, sith Amity, sue me
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-16
Updated: 2021-02-16
Packaged: 2021-03-10 21:29:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 9,597
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28103976
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hey_Red101/pseuds/Hey_Red101
Summary: "You won't kill me." Luz's voice was steady, a stark contrast to what was written across her face.The red lightsaber crept even closer- she could feel the heat of it washing against her face as its wielder spoke with venom on her tongue,"What makes you so certain?"
Relationships: Amity Blight/Luz Noceda
Comments: 7
Kudos: 61





	1. Learning and Loss

“Alright Luz, you ready?” 

Luz shook her head, clearing it of thought before exhaling with a firm nod- her grip tightening on her practice saber. She bent her knees, balanced her weight for when her mentor would come at her. The woman in question smirked, leisurely twirling her metal staff in one hand before- 

“Begin!”

She surged forward, bringing the staff around in an arc with blinding speed- had Luz moved a heartbeat later she would have been struck. She grit her teeth, struggling to hold the block before pushing off and attempting to counter- Eda only smirked and continued her assault. The clearing was filled with the sound of metal on metal as staff clashed with practice saber time and time again with Luz only barely managing to block each of her mentor’s blows. She had no time to attack- despite being decades her senior, Eda moved with a speed and ferocity that belied her appearance, and Luz knew she was being pushed further and further back from the onslaught. 

The two broke apart for a tense second, the apprentice never taking her eyes off her opponent. Luz was heaving for air as she wiped sweat from her brow, she readjusted her grip on her weapon taking in her mentor as she did. Eda was barely winded, smiling as she leisurely stood a few feet away. “You’re doing better this time, I haven’t hit you once yet.” 

Luz grinned, happy to hear the praise before the staff was coming at her again and she was forced to go back on the defense. Eda spun her staff, lifting it above her head and bringing it down lightning-fast to slam into Luz’s saber- arms shuddering with the force of the blow and body shaking with the effort of the block. The weight disappeared and the back end of the staff streaked towards her face- Eda had it around to strike at Luz, there was no way she could block it in time.

Breathing in sharply Luz pulled her upper body back watching as the staff passed a hair’s breadth away from her face, but now she was off balance and her mentor knew it. Eda pressed the advantage- striking out at Luz again who fell to her back in an effort to avoid it. The staff was raised high, poised to strike down at her. 

She scrambled, pulling one hand off the handle of her practice saber and scrabbling in the dirt to put some distance between her and Eda. Her fingers brushed something hard- Luz’s eyes widened. Faster than she could blink, Luz grabbed at the object, flinging it at her mentor’s face.  _ ‘Got you!’  _

Eda’s eyes widened a fraction, head tilting to the side and the rock went flying past, but the distraction had worked- her attack had faltered.

Luz surged her body upwards, taking advantage of the split second opportunity. Her saber was aimed directly for Eda’s chest, clutched tightly in her left hand while her right balanced her attempt. A smile began to appear on her face,  _ ‘Yes!’ _

The staff swung down like lightning, slammed against metal- Luz’s hand jolted. The saber was sent spinning off to the side, out of her grip.

_ ‘No!’ _

Mouth agape Luz looked back to her mentor, away from where her weapon had been launched. The staff was pointed directly at her face, only an inch separating the two.

She’d lost.

Her shoulders sagged,  _ again. _

Luz took her mentor’s offered hand and stood up, giving an audible ‘ugh’ as she did so, “I almost got you that time too.” She said, frustrated. She began patting herself down, trying to get rid of the dirt from her unfortunate fall. 

Eda clapped a hand on her shoulder and smiled, “You got that right,” She walked a few feet away before bending down to pick up the training saber, “A split second sooner and you would’ve won.” The saber was held out to Luz, who begrudgingly took it.

“I feel like I’m barely making any improvement,” Her hand tightened around the handle of the saber, “I can barely use the force, I can’t beat you with a lightsaber, as a matter of fact-” She through her hands in the air to emphasize her point, “I haven’t even  _ built _ my lightsaber yet!” Her hands fell back to her sides as she shook her head, she was just. So. Frustrated.

“Hey,” A hand under her chin forced her to meet the other woman’s gaze, “Don’t think like that. All you’re doing is focusing on the negative, on what you  _ can’t  _ do.” The hand pulled away to rest on Eda’s hip, “And that’s gonna get you nowhere.” 

“I know that but-” Luz began to reply, lips pulling downwards.

Eda raised a finger to cut her off, tsk-ing as she did so, “No buts. You’ve made huge improvements since we started training, you didn’t even know how to  _ hold _ a lightsaber when we first started.”

“Still-”

Eda cut her off again, “Have you improved?” She asked with a critical look.

“Yes-”

“Didn’t you almost beat me?”

“Yeah, bu-”

“Could you use the force at all when we first started?”

“No!” Luz cut off Eda this time, wanting to get her point across, “But I still can’t do the things you can do! You can use it to run faster, jump higher, hit harder,even throw things- I can’t do any of that!” Her throat felt tight, there weren’t any tears in her eyes yet but that didn’t mean they weren’t far off.

Eda sighed, placing her staff on the ground before embracing the girl, “Luz, progress and improvement isn’t a definite thing. There’s no straight path for it, you can go for a while without seeing any improvement at all and then suddenly make leaps and bounds in no time at all.” Her hand rubbed soothing circles on Luz’s back, “And you’re comparing yourself to a Jedi Master, someone who’s been doing this for most of their life- of course there’s going to be a gap.”

“I know,” Luz sniffled, tightening her arms around Eda, “It’s just so frustrating.”

“I know kid, I know.” Eda’s voice was soft and her eyes were unfocused, remembering a different time- not that Luz could see them. She pulled away from the hug to look Luz in the eyes, refocusing all her attention on the girl, “Tell you what- once we have time to go to town, we’ll buy enough supplies for a trip and we’ll go somewhere to find you a lightsaber crystal. Sound good?”

Luz’s eyes lit up at that, sniffling again and wiping the tears from her eyes, “Yeah.” She nodded, “Sounds good.”

Smiling Eda picked up her staff and slung one arm around Luz’s shoulders, walking with the girl back to the ship, “Great, now I say we’ve earned a nice dinner-” She stifled a cough with her staff hand, “I’m starving.”

“You’ve been coughing a lot recently, are you alright?”

“I’m fine kid, I bet I just inhaled some dirt that came off that rock you threw at me.”

Luz ducked her head and smiled sheepishly, “Yeeeaaaahhh, sorry about that by the way. It was the only thing I could think of.”

Eda chuckled at that and shook her head as they drew close to the ship, “Don’t apologise for it- that was smart! You always want to look for things to use to your advantage no matter where you are, and if that involved throwing things-” She shrugged one shoulder, “Oh well.” 

“So what-” Luz giggled, “In a fight I should just grab the nearest thing and throw it?” She began laughing harder, caught up in the mental image.

Her teacher gave a chuckle at the girl’s laughter, glad that she was over her loss from earlier. “That’s right, but-” Her face grew serious again as she came to a stop, “Always make sure you have something to defend yourself with- if you throw away the best weapon you have you’re just asking to lose.” A nasty, all too familiar voice spoke up from the back of her mind,  _ ‘Get killed more like.’ _

Eda gave her a head a shake before resting a hand on her apprentice’s shoulder, “Jeez, that got heavy all of a sudden, but you get what I’m saying right?” She waited for Luz to nod before dropping her hand back to her side, “Good. Now let’s eat!” Using the electronic panel to open the door they wasted no time getting ready for dinner- they’d had a long day of training, and they’d have another one tomorrow.

\----------

Once again Luz had  _ almost  _ gotten Eda in their training session, and once again Eda had  _ barely  _ avoided it. However Luz wasn’t down this time, quite the opposite really. After they finished, Eda had told her they’d be going to town and she was ecstatic at what that meant. Once they got the supplies for the trip she would get her own lightsaber!

“So what planet are going to go to get my crystal?” She was practically shaking with excitement as she asked.

Eda ‘hmmed’ at that, thinking of what planet would be best, “I don’t know kid, there’s plenty of planets with kyber crystals on them, but the problem is finding one without any Imperial presence on it.” She turned to walk back to the ship and Luz made to follow right behind with more questions.

“What if we can’t find one like that? Are we gonna have to fight our way through them like the Jedi in stories?” She waved around her practice saber, using her mouth to mimic the ‘whooshing’ sounds lightsabers emitted.

Eda chuckled at the girl’s antics, glad to see her in better spirits than the day before, “I doubt it will come to that, there are plenty of planets with kyber crystals- we just have to-” 

Luz ran into her mentor’s back- not realizing the older woman had stopped in her tracks. “Eda? What’s u-”

Eda hushed her, signalling for her to be quiet. They stood like statues for a long, drawn out minute and Luz’s anxiety was beginning to rise- unaware as to what had caught her master’s attention. 

“Engines. Far away-” Eda thrust her hand to the right, pointing past the tree line, “Listen.” Her face was grim and Luz was suddenly on high alert. She closed her eyes and strained her ears for the sound.  _ There it was. _ It was faint, distant like her master said, but distinct- it couldn’t be anything other than engines. Starfighter engines.

“Do you remember how to start up Hooty?” Luz’s heart hammered in her chest, Why did she need to know if Luz remembered how to start Hooty? That ship was her pride and joy next to her staff Owlbert- Eda  _ always _ flew Hooty. Luz nodded shakily with a quiet ‘Yeah’, “Good. Take this, we need to leave.” The woman reached into her two-toned red robes and produced a weighty bronze hilt, trading it for Luz’s practice saber.

_ ‘Her lightsaber?’ _ Her eyes widened, panic evident on her face, “Eda what’s-”

“No time, go!” She began sprinting to the ship, pushing Luz in front of her. 

They were too late.

Without warning half a dozen masked soldiers appeared around the clearing, emerging from the treeline- all brandished blasters and wore the same grey armor. With a swear, Eda pushed Luz behind her, telling her under her breath to stay behind her. 

Luz’s heart was pounding, she could hear her pulse in her ears-  _ what was going on?! _ Her eyes flitted between her mentor and the soldiers, they all wore white capes and grey, bird-like masks. They weren’t like any soldiers Luz had seen before. 

There was more movement from the treeline- directly in front of the two Jedi. Two more figures emerged into the clearing, but these two were different.  _ Very  _ different.

They walked shoulder to shoulder, each one perfectly in-step with the other. Both wore black robes boasting silver accents and capes that hung off one shoulder- one’s hung off the left, the other’s off the right. The only stark difference Luz could see were their helmets: one had patterns like bat wings on the sides and a thin, horizontal visor- the other was blank with a large, T-shaped visor; a dark green braid flowed from under the helmet.

“You two are coming with us.” The one with the bat-mask said in a cold voice. His voice was clear, even through the mask, as he pulled a silver handle from his belt.

The one with the braid followed suit, “Don’t make this difficult.” She took a languid step forward and her companion mirrored her movement.

Eda began slowly stepping backwards towards the ship, keeping her eyes on them and Luz behind her. She sneered, “If you two brought this much muscle you probably know that we’re not leaving without a fight.” 

The one with the wing-pattern mask made a signal with his free hand- the troopers around the clearing raised their blasters, “We’d like to avoid it if possible.”

The other one sighed, taking another step forward, “We’re busy people, don’t drag this out.” 

For every step the newcomers had taken Luz and Eda had taken one in kind, slowly moving closer and closer to where Hooty sat at the edge of the clearing- just a little farther and they could make a run for it. “Eda-” Luz tugged at her mentor’s elbow, “We’re almost there! Keep going!” She whispered shakily, eyes wide as she continued to stare around the clearing. 

Eda took her eyes off the two strangers to look over her shoulder at Luz. “Sorry kid,” She muttered softly, a sad look in her eyes, “Only one of us is making it out of this one. Run for Hooty as soon as the fighting starts.” Her gaze snapped forward, “Don’t stop for anything.”

“But-”

“No buts. Don’t. Stop. For. Anything.” 

Eda’s eyes were locked on the two black-clad strangers, a challenging smile came across her face. “Alright you two,” She slid her stance wider, light on her feet- Owlbert and the practice saber raised in front of her in a ready position. The saber was held close, the staff pointed at her opponents. “Who wants to go first?”

The long haired stranger shook her head and let out a sigh as the two of them ignited their lightsabers, the blades glowing a violent red. Luz gasped at the sight-  _ sith? What did they want with her and Eda?! _

“Remember,” One addressed the troopers, “We need these two alive.”

Without waiting for responses the two flew forward, neck and neck as they headed right for Eda. They closed the distance- Eda held her ground, moving her weapons to block as they lit up with purple lighting. A resounding clang sounded as they swung at Eda at the same time, Eda single-handedly blocked them both with her two weapons.

Luz bolted- making a break for the ship as soon as the two strangers were occupied, her feet pounding against the dirt as the fight intensified behind her.

The stranger with short hair broke away from Eda, dodging under her attack to pursue the apprentice. With a swear Eda tried to strike him as he went past, but his partner intercepted the attack- forcing Eda to focus on her. 

Despite her racing pulse Luz could hear the stranger gaining ground, hear the hum of the lightsaber growing closer. Risking a look over her shoulder she saw him only a few feet away, close enough for her to make out the intricate details on his mask. Her eyes widened, his arm was outstretched to grab her-  _ he was going to get her! _

Behind him Luz could see Eda dueling with the other one, spinning and striking at such a speed with her two weapons that the woman had no choice but to stay on the defensive, twisting her lightsaber this way and that to fend off the attacks. But Eda was Eda, and the stranger wasn’t good enough. One of Eda’s blows got through- landed just under her ribs, electrocuting and stunning them long enough for her to launch them away with a kick. Before they’d even hit the ground, Eda had whipped around and thrown her hand out towards Luz and her pursuer. 

Strain appeared on Eda’s face as she grabbed him with the force and  _ pulled _ . He jerked to a stop before flying through the air and slamming into the dirt at Eda’s feet. Before his momentum had the chance to stop she had raised her staff and struck down at his face, intent on finishing him. He parried the blow and rolled- striking out with his lightsaber and severing the practice saber above Eda’s hand. There was a blur of movement as Eda launched the handle at the man’s face, following it with a blow from her staff as her opponent moved to dodge.

Finally Luz had made it to the ship, heaving for air and heart hammering her ribcage as she slammed her hand on the door’s control panel- rushing to put in the code that would open it. Her brain registered the sound of a blaster, a bolt mere inches from her hand. She jolted, throwing her arms in front of her to ward off the flying sparks. When her wide eyes saw the control panel she knew it was useless- the blaster had fried it. 

She took another look back- Eda had re-engaged both strangers, fighting the two of them using nothing but her staff. The three of them were moving and maneuvering around each other so quickly that none of the troopers had a shot on Eda. That left them to get Luz. 

Multiple troopers began rushing towards her and she gasped- throwing her arms out and squeezing her eyes shut. After a moment she cracked open one eye, peering at the troopers that had tried to get to her. Her mouth opened in shock- they’d stopped. It was if they were frozen in place midstep. She looked at her hands and to her mentor, briefly questioning if Eda had done that somehow before she shook herself and returned her focus to the door.

Luz began pulling at the manual handle to the ship’s door, the handle wouldn’t budge despite her best efforts. Years of disuse had rusted it and turning it an inch required an absurd amount of strength. As she began throwing her whole body weight against it she felt it give- just a fraction, but it was enough to encourage her to keep going.

Meanwhile, Eda was beginning to falter- her usage of the force was draining her and she’d earned a few wounds from her two opponents, she could still fight, but it was all beginning to add up. She was more skilled than the two force users one on one, but the two moved in perfect sync to cover the other’s blindspots and openings. 

A scream split the clearing and Eda jumped away, putting distance between herself and her opponents to risk a glance to the source of the sound- it was Luz. She’d opened the door but a trooper was standing over her, aiming at the fallen Luz. The lightsaber was out of her reach and the trooper couldn’t miss from that distance. 

Luz was staring up at the faceless man above her- she’d opened the door, using both hands to wrench the handle into position when he’d come around the ship and kicked her. Her ribs screamed in pain as his foot pinned her in place and he leveled the blaster at her face. She writhed under his foot, trying to lift it from her chest while his finger tightened on the trigger.

Through her pulse racing in her ears she heard her name yelled from somewhere but she couldn’t bring herself to look away from the weapon that was mere feet from her face.

Her eyes widened as something impacted into the man’s side: a staff. It slammed home just under his arm and buried itself into his chest with monumental force. He staggered, the momentum of it threw him against the side of the ship and his shot went wide, missing Luz by a hair.

Luz crawled back, away from the dead man and grabbed the lightsaber from where it had fallen before looking to the staff’s owner. Eda had already turned her attention back to her fight, now forced to duck and dodge every attack thrown her way. “Go Luz!” She barely dodged a blow to her face, taking a cut under one eye, “I’ll be fine!”

She nodded to herself, trusting her mentor’s words and shutting the door behind her. Her feet pounded on metal as she raced to the cockpit and slid to a stop in front of the control console. “C’mon, c’mon please work.” Her hands shook, barely managing to hit the buttons to start the ship. The engines whirred to life and the ship began to rise, Luz cheered and pumped her fist. 

Luz gasped as the ship shuddered to a halt and she was thrown sideways. Her hands grasped at the pilot’s chair to stabilize herself before stumbling to a window. Ice filled her veins at the sight in front of her.

One of the masked strangers- the one with the braid- was standing on her own, away from Eda and her partner. Her lightsaber was by her side and her free hand was reaching out for the ship, locking it in place with the force. The engines were straining under the exertion.

Eda was panting and her movements were starting to slow, it was easier now that she was only fighting one of them. He was obviously used to fighting with his partner at his side, but Eda was used to fighting one on one- even without a weapon she was pulling the fight back in her favor. She had to get rid of him quick, otherwise Hooty would be pulled out of the sky- and Luz along with it.

She kept dodging, waiting for an opening to exploit. She didn’t have to wait long- he’d overextended on one of his strikes, and Eda took full advantage of the mistake. Her hand grabbed at the hand that held his lightsaber, locking it in place and slamming her knee into his gut. He bent double and grunted as all air was expelled from his lungs- she pulled her knee back again, slamming it into face this time and grinned with grim satisfaction when she felt the mask split under the blow. He stumbled back and clutched at his now bloody nose as the helmet fell, thumping into the dirt at his feet and revealing a shock of dark green hair on his head.

There was fury in his eyes as he stared at Eda, who jumped back and summoned a discarded blaster to her hand in the same moment. She could hear his footsteps as he raced towards her, but she didn’t move, instead raising the blaster to aim at the one holding Hooty in place. She exhaled slowly, knowing she couldn’t afford to miss, and pulled the trigger- watching as the blaster bolt lanced through the air and burned into her target’s shoulder. 

Eda smiled to herself as Hooty rose higher and higher into the air- knowing that they’d be unable to catch Luz at this point, but she wasn’t done yet.

She brought her gaze back down, focusing in on the one she’d just shot- she was moving towards Eda, lightsaber carving a trail where the tip traced the ground. The blaster felt heavy in her hand as she raised it again, then a flash of red swung inches from her face and the blaster fell apart; barrel kicking up a cloud of dust when it hit the ground while she still kept her grip on the handle. Her shoulders sagged as she looked at the handle before she dropped it- it was useless now.

The stranger with the braid was in front of her now, and though she couldn’t see her face through the mask Eda knew she was furious; it rolled off of her in waves. “Well,” She chuckled tiredly to herself, “I guess you two bit off more than you could chew.”

The unmasked one stepped forward, lifting his lightsaber to her face, forcing her to tilt her head back, “You’ll pay for this,” He growled thickly, spitting out the excess blood in his mouth. “We’ll find your apprentice, just like we found you.”

Eda gave a disbelieving noise between her panting, “Are you going to do that before... or after you fix that broken nose? She might find it hard to understand you with all that blood in your mouth.” She grinned upon seeing the effect her words had on the man- she may not have the energy to fight, but she had enough energy to get under his skin.

Luz didn’t know how long she’d been standing at the window, watching space go by. She’d been frozen to the spot, watching the end of the confrontation between Eda and the masked strangers until they were nothing more than specks in the distance. The last she’d seen of them the two were approaching Eda with lightsabers in hand.

She turned her back to the window and leaned her back against it before sliding down the wall to sit on the floor. Something clinked against the floor. Her head turned sluggishly to see what it was- a heavy bronze cylinder was clutched in one hand.

_ Eda’s lightsaber. _

Her eyes widened at the sight.

Pressure built behind her eyes, “Eda…” Her throat felt tight and tears began falling as she clutched the lightsaber to her chest.

“ _ Eda… _ ”

Her friend.

“ _ Eda!” _

Her mentor.

“ _ EDAAA!” _

The woman who had been her mother for the past five years.

Gone. Just like that.

She screamed and sobbed into the cold emptiness of the ship’s cabin, curling in on herself and rocking back and forth. For the first time in years she was alone. Well and truly alone in the cold vacuum of space with nothing but a lightsaber that she hardly knew how to use and didn’t even belong to her.

Her head fell back, banging against the wall as she squeezed her eyes even tighter, “Useless, useless, useless…” If she’d just trained harder, been better or braver then Eda might still be with her. 

Luz sat for a long time after her tears had ran out, sitting in silence as her emotions had used the last remnants of energy she’d had left. Now she was just. Tired. As her eyelids grew heavy and her body slipped into unconsciousness she was left with one final thought.

_ What was she going to do now? _


	2. What Now?

Luz didn’t know how long she’d been passed out for- her fitful ‘rest’ could have lasted anywhere from half an hour to half a day- but exhaustion still weighed heavy on her shoulders. 

At some point in her unconscious state her body had moved, leaning over and curling itself into the corner where the control console met the wall in as comfortable a position as it could manage, which is to say it wasn’t comfortable at all. As brown eyes pried themselves open and blinked against the too bright light, Luz’s weary mind questioned why exactly she was on the floor of the cockpit. It didn’t take long to remember as her brain dredged up the events that led to now: training, the battle, Eda and the two lightsaber users; it all flooded back. 

All the emotions she’d been drowning in before were violently trying to make themselves known again: desperation, hysteria, panic-

_ Guilt. _

They all fought to be front and center, one making itself known just for another to surge forward and take its place. Luz squeezed her eyes shut, trying to fight back tears as some small part of her mind was surprised that she had any left. She didn’t  _ want  _ to be overwhelmed like this again and frustration was mounting. Her fingers tangled themselves in her hair, trying to use the discomfort to ground her as they tugged at her locks. 

A shrill, electronic sound piercing the almost-silent cabin startled her out of her downward spiral and her head whipped up to find where it came from. She thought she’d imagined it until it sounded again. Wincing and clapping her hands over her ears Luz tried to pinpoint what was making the ear piercing sound- it didn’t take long; a light on the control console was flashing in time with the sound.

A groan pulled itself from her lips as she dragged herself to her feet, leaning heavily on the console and the arm of the pilot’s chair. Her muscles were like cords pulled taut and every movement made her ache. Passing out on the floor after a training session and a fight for her life wasn’t good for the body.  _ ‘Couldn’t have guessed that.’ _ She thought dully as she rolled her neck to try and ease some of the tension. 

A half step forward brought Luz directly in front of the controls of the ship, and she was reminded  _ why _ she’d never been allowed to fly Hooty. All of the buttons, lights, switches, and screens were totally foregin to her- despite Eda telling her numerous times what they all did- as she stood motionless and dragged her gaze across the console. All she could remember after several minutes of thinking were the buttons Eda had told her to  _ never  _ press, all of which sat to the left of the pilot’s chair. 

While Luz had been standing at the controls the beeping had persisted, and she briefly wondered if it had been getting louder the longer she waited. She wouldn’t put it past Eda to design it like that. Her lips tugged further down at the idea, but she shook her head to rid it of that thought, trying to focus on the task at hand. That one light was still blinking in time with the beeping and Luz realised there was a button underneath the light. Seeing as the sound was making her head throb and the button wasn’t one of the ones that Eda had told her was ‘off limits’- as far as she could remember- she pushed it.

The headache inducing beeping had finally been shot off, but Luz all of a sudden had to squint her eyes against the sudden light that flashed through the dimly lit room. Blinking away the stars in her vision, she turned to the large screen that had come to life next to the button she’d pressed. She’d looked right over it earlier as it must have been inactive, but now it was illuminating the whole of the cockpit. It had lines running across it, horizontally and vertically, to form a grid pattern.

After noticing the numbers and characters running along the edges and through the center of the screen Luz’s exhausted mind came to the conclusion that it was a map of the system they were in. A few more details were revealed upon closer inspection: a symbol that looked like a simplistic silhouette of Hooty, a line connecting the ship to a planet in the system, and a flashing indicator reading ‘Autopilot Engaged’.

The screen was centered on the very same planet that was connected to Hooty on the map: Bonesborough. It was the largest planet in the system and seemed to be the only one with a substantial population on its surface. 

One of the many cities on the planet was highlighted and marked- their final destination it looked like. It bordered between large town and small city. “Hexside,” She muttered to herself, speaking the name that was present on screen and wondering why it sounded familiar. She shook her head, running her fingers through her hair as her mind started to pick up, “Hexside, Hexside- Where do I know that name from?” 

_ “So where are we going now Eda?” _

_ Luz was sitting upside down in the co-pilot’s chair, smiling at the person piloting the ship. They’d left the last system they’d stayed in at the beginning of the day and she assumed they had to be getting near their destination. Hooty may have been a fairly large ship but he was by no means slow- the engines Eda had installed made sure of that- but even at their max speed they’d yet to arrive and Luz was getting antsy. _

_ Pressing a button that Luz couldn’t see due to her upside-down-ness, Eda turned her chair to face Luz, smiling amusedly as she did, “I already told you where we’re going kid-” _

_ The brunette groaned loudly, cutting off whatever the other was trying to say, “You said we were going to a planet in-” Luz made air quotes with her fingers, “ ‘The Boiling Isles’, but you didn’t say which one! And! I’m pretty sure that’s not even this system’s real name because I couldn’t find it on  _ any _ of the maps of the galaxy that you had me look at!”  _

_ “Jeez you actually looked at those?” Eda snorted as she tried to fight back a laugh, “I thought you’d ignored them after I turned my back.” _

_ “Well I diiiiiid, but then I got so bored that I actually started looking at them.” Luz wasn’t sure if the heat in her face was embarrassment at being called out so easily or from the blood rushing to her head due to her sitting position. At this point it was hard to tell. _

_ At that Eda started cackling and clutching her sides, leaning into her chair and throwing her head back gleefully at her apprentice’s confession. Luz couldn’t help the smile that spread across her face in response and before long she was laughing too. _

_ After who knew how long Eda’s laughter slowly ebbed away as she took deep breaths, trying- and partially succeeding- to stifle her amusement while she wiped away a stray tear, “Ok, ok, phew. That was good.” She cleared her throat and relaxed back into her chair, “Anyway, you’re right: ‘The Boiling Isles’ is not the real name of the system, it’s just what the locals call it-” _

_ “Locals?” Luz interrupted, latching onto the word. Eda had never used ‘local’ names for any of the other systems they’d been in, so why- “Wait!” She gasped, moving to lean closer to Eda but only managing to dump herself on the floor in between their chairs. Right, she’d been sitting upside down. Honestly how could she have forgotten that? Shaking her head and righting herself on the floor she jabbed a finger at the other woman, “You said locals use that name but then you used it! Am I going to hear some of your awesome, secret backstory?” Luz was practically vibrating with excitement at this point, her mentor had always been very tight lipped about her past so she took any opportunity to learn more about her.  _

_ The woman in question shook her head with a smile, “Yeah, yeah I’ll tell you some of my ‘awesome backstory’,” Eda mimicked Luz’s air quotes from earlier, “But first you need to get in your seat- I’m not going to talk down at you while you’re on the floor.” _

_ Luz scrambled to get back in the chair she’d fallen out of, wasting no time in plopping herself down in the seat with her legs crossed underneath her. She was leaning so far forward it was a surprise that she didn’t fall off again. _

_ Eda could only give a soft chuckle at her apprentice’s antics, shaking her head good-naturedly as she did. “Alright, the main planet in the system is Bonesborough-” _

Luz gave a small, melancholy tinged smile at the memory. That was right, Eda had told her that she’d grown up in Hexside and had told her a few childhood stories of her time there. She’d even told Luz that she’d give her a tour after they’d gotten all they needed for their trip to get Luz a lightsaber crystal.

But that was before they’d been attacked- before Eda had been captured by those two monsters.

“Wait-”

_ “Remember- we want these two alive.” _

Luz gasped as the words rang out in her mind, eyes widening and head snapping up- they’d wanted her and Eda  _ captured _ . Not  _ killed _ . Something flared to life in her chest: all her previous emotions were shoved to the side to make room for the spark of hope that was growing with every second. If they’d wanted Eda dead they would have killed her on the spot. That meant there was a chance, no matter how small, that Eda was still alive.

And that meant there was something Luz could do about it.

“Okay Luz, what’s the plan?” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well we're finally back from a very unintentional and very unplanned hiatus, honestly was just going to be gone for one week for the holidays but all of a sudden got hit with writer's block and struggled to get anything written. This chapter is shorter than what I usually try to write but I pretty happy at how it turned out in the end.
> 
> Not writing for so long got under my skin so much, 0/10 would not recommend.
> 
> Hope everyone enjoyed the chapter and that everyone's staying safe!


	3. Where to Begin?

Hexside, Luz discovered, was vastly different from the stories her mentor had filled her head with. Eda had described the city as the bustling center for almost everything this side of the system: people of all shapes and sizes, groups with varying creeds, jobs ranging from legal to  _ very  _ illegal, and goods and products that would blow anyone’s mind. The city she was standing in, however?

Dead in almost every sense of the word. Shut down stalls lined the streets, small animals peeked out from a multitude of nooks and crannies- obviously as confused as Luz was to the absence of the population- and a stiff breeze swept through alleys and between buildings as if to highlight the emptiness. Where she should be hearing laughter and bartering, Luz only heard windchimes and the scuttling of paws. When she’d passed through the outskirts of the town she didn’t pay much attention to her solitude- it would make sense being the edge of the city. However, she was now in the city proper and walking through the heart of what seemed like a merchant district and still nothing.

If she was cautious before, then she was positively on edge now. Eda had warned her of anywhere where the local population, whether animal or sentient, was absent: it either meant that something was going to happen, or something had already happened. Were the locals hiding in anticipation of some terrible event? Or was Luz walking through a town with no inhabitants? A shudder passed through her body; she didn’t know which option she’d prefer.

Head swiveling side to side, Luz made sure to examine anything and everything around her: trash bins toppled and shops and businesses with windows tightly shut. Her feet hadn’t missed a step since she’d first touched down outside the city and they’d carried her through wide streets without pause while her brain worked to try and come up with a plan of action. Plan A had been to touch down, find people, and ask around. She was still putting together a Plan B.

She grit her teeth in frustration as she entered into a different part of the city; gone were the stalls and vendors’ stands, replaced instead by bars and storefronts. Three different districts she’d crept through- at least a whole hour of walking- and all she’d accomplished was waste time. She was seconds away from marching up to a random door and banging on it until someone came out or she had knocked the door down; maybe it wasn’t the smartest or kindest thing to do, but she was-

_ “Hey!”  _

Luz froze mid step, hand darting to the weapon at her waist as her head whipped to the side to locate where the voice had come from. No one else was in the street; all the windows were still shut tight, except-

_ “What are you waiting for?! Get in here!” _

-there, a door was cracked open and Luz could just make out a figure on the other side gesturing wildly for her to get inside. 

Warily, Luz moved towards the door, long strides closing the distance with her hand never straying too far from the handle at her waist. In the time it took her to move to the door the one holding it open peered their head into the street, looking left and right as if to check for some unseen threat.  _ ‘Great, that’s awfully reassuring.’ _ She fought the urge to roll her eyes as he stepped back and opened the door for her to enter.

Upon hearing the click of the latch sliding into place, Luz allowed herself to cast her eyes around the room she found herself in. It was a large, open room with a long wooden counter to one side and tables scattered around. A bar then. She passed her eyes over the occupants of the room, about a half-dozen people or so in total, and none gave her much more than a wary side-eye before going back to what they’d been doing before. 

Feeling awkwardness start to set in as she simply stood at the door, Luz decided to follow the man who’d opened the door for her- sitting on a bar stool while he stepped behind the counter. He was a short man, with pinkish skin, large ears, and a wide face accentuated by massive glasses. 

Thinking that now was as good a time as any to start asking questions, the girl leaned forward with her elbows on the counter to address the man, “Is this your bar?” She kept her voice light and curious, uneasy of saying the wrong thing.

Pausing in wiping down the glass in his hand he smirked at her question, “It is,” He snorted haughtily, “And it is the finest bar this side of the galaxy! Welcome to Grimm Hammer, I am Tibblet Grimm Hammer the Third, the pleasure is all yours I assure you.” His short stature somewhat ruined the bow he gave after offering his name, but Luz had to appreciate the effort- even if he did almost hit his forehead on the counter. 

_ ‘Right…’ _ Throwing a look over her shoulder at the near empty room she continued, “Is it always…” She offered a vague gesture towards the rest of the building, “Like this?”

“No, it is not usually like this,” He heaved a frustrated sigh and dropped his rag onto the counter, “But recent events with the Empire have put a damper on business.” 

“Events?” That piqued her interest, the only ‘event’ she’d experienced with the Empire was what had happened a few days prior to her and Eda, “What kind of events?” A hush came over the already quiet room, the only thing Luz could hear was the beating of her own heart.

The multiple sets of eyes burning holes between her shoulder blades made Luz drift her hand back to her waist; she’d gotten the attention of the other patrons, but the rising tension couldn’t mean anything good. In her peripheral she also took note of the figure at the far end of the bar, cloaked and with their hood pulled up, and how their body angled toward Luz while their drink sat on the bar. Tibblet, evidently, had also noticed the rising tension and leaned in to whisper his response with tense shoulders.

“Not long ago, the Empire’s forces came through. They invaded homes, searched stores, interrogated people even- for seemingly no reason! It was like something from the war stories old ex-soldiers would tell.” Half of Luz’s mind was focusing on the story being told, the other half was paying attention to the room at her back; she could  _ feel _ the stares on her as Tibblet spoke. Then, from the back of the room, wood scraped against wood. Heavy footsteps began making their way closer. 

They came to a stop behind her. “Somethin’s got the Empire riled up.”

Luz turned slowly to look at the speaker, making a conscious effort to not make a sudden move that would spark the tension even higher. The fact her hand drifted to her waist as she did meant nothing, that was just her being prepared.

Taking time to formulate a response, Luz analyzed the person in front of her. An old, weathered armor plate- covered in dents and scratches- covered his torso, a heavy blaster hung at his waist, and the all grey fabric of his shirt and pants brought it all together.  _ ‘A bounty hunter? Pirate?’ _ “Any idea what could get the Empire ‘riled up’?” Even sat on the stool as she was, she could still see eye to eye with him. 

His eyes darted to the hand at her side, “Take your hand off that fake lightsaber, ‘n I might feel inclined to tell ya’.” One of his hands moved to his side as he spoke- fingers inches away from the handle of that blaster as his challenging tone rang through the building. Luz could feel the tension roiling, one wrong move from anyone and it would boil over.

Gritting her teeth and forcing her shoulders down Luz made an attempt at an apologetic smile, and spoke slowly, “Sorry about that- the past few days have been…”  _ Nightmarish _ . “Tense.” Moving her hand away from the weapon handle at her waist felt all sorts of wrong, but she knew the alternative was worse. She waited with bated breath for the other to make a move, and her and the whole bar gave a collective sigh of relief as he crossed his arms over his chest.

“So what are you doin’ asking about the Empire?” He took a heavy step and sat himself next to Luz, a bar stool between them, “And don’t try to play it off saying somethin’ like ‘I was just curious’- if you were just curious you would’ve backed down as soon as you felt something was wrong.” He jabbed a finger in her direction, “You don’t  _ want  _ to know, you  _ need  _ to know. Why?” 

Luz leaned her elbows onto the counter, thinking on how she should answer. Telling the whole truth would probably raise some eyebrows- and more questions- but she’d never been a good liar, something Eda had lamented over despite all the tips she gave her. A partial truth then, “They took someone from me.” Her voice was measured, even, “I want to know why.”

At her words something in Luz’s peripheral shifted- that figure in the cloak was still at the end of the bar, and as soon as Luz had uttered those words they’d moved- turning ever so slightly so they could peer at Luz some more. She pulled her gaze away from the stranger- she didn’t want them to know she was aware of their listening in. Something felt off about them, something that went past them just eavesdropping on her conversation, but she couldn’t put her finger on what.

“I’m sorry to hear that,” The maybe-bounty hunter spoke up once more, face drawn tight, “Sad to say that’s been happening a fair amount recently.”

Humming in acknowledgement and temporarily pushing the cloaked figure out of her mind, Luz asked a question of her own, “So what’s changed? What could make the Empire act like this?”

His eyes narrowed and he threw a look over his shoulder before leaning in and talking lowly enough that Luz had to strain to hear, “No idea, all I know is that whatever it is, it started high- way up the chain of command.” His hand tightened into a fist on the counter. “Someone’s making waves, and we’re feeling the effects.”

\----------

Luz continued her searching for another few days but failed to make much more headway than what she’d learned from the bounty hunter. The Empire had come into Hexside- apparently looking for something- then had packed up and left a few days later, the same day that Eda had been captured. No matter how Luz framed it, that couldn’t be a coincidence.

Now she was spending time in the same bar she was at on her first day, trying and failing to learn anything new from anyone she could- Tibblet may be an arrogant and self-centered idiot, but he wasn’t wrong about the place being popular. The bar may have only been about half-full, but it was considerably more than the day she arrived. Luz supposed the people of Hexside were cautious about stepping out of their homes.  _ ‘Can’t blame them.’ _ She thought idly as she remembered all too well the event that had started her whole journey.

All in all this day was shaping up to be another wasted endeavor- the sun was going down, casting orange light through the windows and she’d learned nothing. For the past four hours she’d been in here, asking around and listening in but no one had said anything of note. Luz knew it would be difficult, but this was just frustrating. She raised her water to her lips and glumly muttered to herself before taking a sip, “They fly around in star destroyers and wear that ridiculous armor, how has no one seen  _ anything _ ?”

“Did you say star destroyer?”

_ “Aaagh!”  _ Luz jolted at the voice, flailing her arms as she tried to jump to her feet. In her rush to stand and face the speaker however, she’d gotten her feet tangled in the legs of the chair, falling on top of it as they crashed to the floor. From her position on the floor she was aware of footsteps rushing over to her but her head hurt too much to really pay attention to it.

“Oh my god I’m so sorry,” The light coming through her eyelids dimmed as someone stood over her, “Gus you have to stop sneaking up on people! Here, let me help you up.” Rubbing her head and blindly accepting the hand offered to her, Luz was pulled into a sitting position. Her head was still reeling when she opened her eyes, having to blink away the stars she saw before being able to look at the two newcomers.

The one who helped her to sit up was a pretty woman with round glasses and dark hair and was now trying to get Luz to move her hand so she could check her head for injury- that was unexpected. Her friend- probably ‘Gus’- was stood right behind her smiling apologetically. “It doesn’t look like you hurt your head too bad, but I bet it hurts huh?” The flinch that Luz gave as she brushed the bump on her head was answer enough.

After Gus had righted the tipped chair and the- still unnamed- woman maneuvered Luz into it, he ran to get ice from the bartender. After bringing the ice back for Luz, Gus had pulled out a seat across from her while his friend sat at her side. The three sat like that for some time with Luz holding the ice to the back of her head and Gus running off at some point to grab more drinks for the three of them.

Slowly opening her eyes again, Luz was suddenly thankful that it was later in the day- the already dim light from the windows was enough to make her headache worse, but it was manageable. Annoying- but manageable. “Y’know, you guys are lucky I’ve got such a hard head- otherwise I would  _ definitely _ have a concussion right now.” She’s glad to hear at least one of them chuckle at her joke, even if it did have a tinge of guilt to it, “Ugh, anyway, I’m Luz.”

“I’m Gus.” He waves as he introduces himself and Luz nods her head at him, waving in kind.

“I’m Willow,” The other woman spoke, still giving concerned glances to the back of Luz’s head despite her earlier joke, “Sorry we had to meet like that, but  _ someone _ -” She shot Gus a pointed look, “Is too curious for his own good.”

Hearing Gus breathe in to offer another apology Luz cut him off with a chuckle, “Really it’s fine, A little bump like this is nothing- I’ve gotten worse in training, I mean usually it’s my own fault buuuut what can ya do?” That at least managed to get Gus to loosen up, even if she could still see he felt bad, maybe changing the topic would be a good idea? “I don’t think I’ve seen you two around before, did you just come to town? I only got here at the beginning of the week so I’m a stranger here too.”

From then on conversation flowed like water, with the three taking turns answering and asking questions of each other: Luz flew a really old ship that somehow was still space-worthy, Willow and Gus had been here before and were just stopping by to restock, the thing on Luz’s waist was a practice saber- Gus said it looked like a shock baton, Luz liked that better than ‘practice saber’, especially since she now knew how to turn the thing on and cover it with electricity. She refrained from showing them Eda’s lightsaber where it was hidden under her cloak.

They were all so engrossed in their conversations none in the group noticed the chatter around them gradually lessening as patrons filtered out the door- it wasn’t until Tibblet yelled at them to get out so he could close up that they actually paid their surroundings any mind. The bar was now only lit by lamps hanging from the ceiling and any light from outside was stopped by the closed shutters on the windows.

Their apologies went largely ignored as the bartender- to the best of his ability- shoved them out the door into the darkened street. Standing in the cool night air, the three all looked to one another. Luz glanced at Willow, Gus glanced at Luz, and they all couldn’t help but laugh at their own misfortune. It was the only sound present in the darkened streets, making it obvious the city was already prepared to sleep.

“It’s probably not a good thing to get kicked out of a bar on your first day.” Gus and Luz looked to their companion as she interrupted their amusement; however, it was easy to see the smile on her lips that contrasted with her scolding tone.

The sentiment only caused Luz to laugh harder as her mind was filled with all the times Eda had gotten them kicked out of various establishments. The thought made her sober slightly, but she couldn’t fight the smile on her face, “It just means the bar doesn’t deserve you-” Luz placed a hand on the other’s shoulder and made an attempt at a serious expression, “Now you have to move on.” Her facade lasted less time than it took Gus to double over with laughter and all three were hit with a fresh wave of amusement. 

Their joking lasted for another few minutes before yawns replaced laughs and they began moving down the street, all three agreeing on returning to the hangar where their ships were situated. Footsteps were the only things disturbing the quiet as Luz reflected on the day. She hadn’t learned anything new to lead her to Eda, but she had met Willow and Gus so perhaps there was a silver lining to it all. Now that she thought about it however…

“Hey Gus?” 

“Yeah Luz?” 

She looked to him and tilted her head as she asked, “Why did you ask me about star destroyers?”

Excitement lit up his eyes and his feet came to a stop, “Oh! Because we saw one on our way here!”

A sigh was heard from Luz’s other side, “It shot at us Gus.”

“Well- I know that, but I really wanted to get a closer look at it-”

“We could’ve died Gus.”

“But I’ve never seen one before and I-”

“When did this happen?” Luz’s voice gave the two pause as words died on their tongues at her flat tone. 

They shared a look before Willow stepped around Luz to stand in front of her, “A few days ago- right at the beginning of the week.” Gus nodded along, a worried frown on his face. “Why?”

_ A few days ago- the beginning of the week. _ “You’re sure?” 

“Yeah- I mean I put it into the ship’s log, it’s dated and everything if you want to look at it.” Now Gus looked confused, one eyebrow up and his mouth drawn into a slight frown. “I could even tell you where it was going if-”

“Hold on-” Luz threw a glance over her shoulder, scanning the empty street behind them. This was the breakthrough that she needed- that star destroyer had to be related to those two sith, the timing was too good to be a coincidence. She wanted nothing more than to have Gus continue, to tell her everything he could about the ship but… 

An image flashed into her head: a stranger perched on a stool, turning to listen in, cloak doing little to hide the feeling of  _ off-ness _ that radiated off them. A feeling strong enough that Luz couldn’t discern if it was in her head or not. She threw another look around her. Dark alleys, low rooftops- too many places for someone to hide.

“Let’s talk about this on your ship.” 

Willow and Gus shared a look- concerned and confused- but nodded anyway. The air was tense as they began moving again. Willow and Gus were now watching their surroundings the same as Luz. None knew what they were looking for exactly, but that did nothing to lessen their vigilance. 

Luz’s hand stayed under her cloak, near her baton the whole way. Paranoia or not, she wasn’t getting caught off guard again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You know it's kinda funny- I usually have something to say here but I can't think of anything to add. Oh well.
> 
> Writing Gus and Willow was fun, y'all can probably guess who the person in the cloak is.
> 
> Stay safe, have a good day, and thank you for reading!

**Author's Note:**

> Well this is certainly different to what I usually write.
> 
> I got the idea for this story and literally couldn't get it out of my head until I put it in words, so here we are. This was also my first real attempt at writing a fight scene, and honestly? It was a lot of fun to write.
> 
> I'm still working on "The Sun" and updates for that story will still be progressing like normal, I'll just be writing this in between those chapters.
> 
> Anyway I've got to close off this end note because it's close to 1am and I need sleep, hope you all have a wonderful day and stay safe! Thanks for reading!


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